BYU vs San Diego State Basketball Recap

BYU 82, San Diego State 68

This was the last stand for the San Diego State Aztecs. Their Mormon hosts showed them no beneficence or mercy.

Brigham Young, by any reasonable measurement or account, knocked San Diego State out of the NCAA Tournament on Wednesday night in Provo, Utah, smacking down the visitors from Southern California in an authoritative 14-point pasting at the Marriott Center. On a night when the Aztecs needed to be at their best, the homestanding Cougars showed their guests how a championship team takes charge late in a season.

One of the interesting aspects of this Mountain West matchup was that while San Diego State desperately needed this victory for its NCAA resume - which lacked both a non-conference scalp of appreciable distinction and a quality Mountain West road win - it was the BYU crew that displayed an acute sense of urgency.

Oh, there was reason for Coach Dave Rose's roster to proudly carry the banner for Brigham Young University. The Cougars entered this game tied with New Mexico in the loss column for the Mountain West lead, so with a Saturday showdown looming against Los Lobos, it was imperative for the home team to shut down the squad from San Diego and stay in the running for the regular season conference crown. BYU's energy - especially in a building where visiting teams rarely get out alive - was hardly shocking. What was odd, however, was San Diego State's lack of pizzazz.

Time and time again, the Aztecs' guards hoisted bad shots and made thoughtless passes. It's true that all five Aztec starters committed at least two turnovers on a night when SDSU gave away the ball 16 times, but the lack of thoughtful halfcourt offense began with the floor leaders for coach Steve Fisher's club. Turnovers will happen, and one could be at least somewhat lenient in critiquing SDSU's offensive performance under most circumstances, but there was one detail about the Aztecs' effort that left a bad taste in the losing locker room: Many of the lazy passes made by the visitors came within the first 15 seconds of the shot clock.

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Indeed, the truly frustrating aspect of this loss - which essentially eliminated the Aztecs from at-large contention for the NCAAs - was that they often threw the ball away before their offensive sets had really begun to develop. It's perfectly okay to get beaten by a superior team playing its best, and truth be told, the conquering Cougars looked very sharp in the final 15:29 of regulation, when they broke open a 44-all tie and scored 38 points to quite legitimately leave SDSU in the dust. With that having been said, however, San Diego State conceded too many possessions without making a concerted effort to pass the ball intelligently in open space. It has long been a problem for the SDSU program to excel when removed from its comfy home-court climate at the Aztec Bowl, and this decisive downer in Provo will only reinforce that accurate and legitimately-arrived-at reputation.

While BYU prepares for a big date with New Mexico - as both the Cougars and Lobos gear up for the NCAA Tournament - the defeated Aztecs would do well to remember why they're about to settle for the NIT. If San Diego State can't find extra degrees of composure and intelligence when asked to win in the Mountain Time zone, the gang from the Montezuma Mesa won't get back to the Big Dance.

By: Matt Zemek
DFN Sports Senior Staff Writer